Side mounted privacy lock for a residential door

Abstract

A door lock includes a latch assembly positioned at least partially within the door and movable between an engaged position in which the door is held in a closed position and a disengaged position in which the door is movable from a closed position to an open position. An outside spindle is rotatable about an axis and an inside spindle is rotatable about the axis to move the latch assembly between the engaged position and the disengaged position. A locking plate is movable along the axis between a locked position in which the outside spindle is fixed and an unlocked position in which the outside spindle and the inside spindle are each rotatable and a privacy lock actuator positioned on the inside of the door and movable in a direction substantially normal to the axis to move the locking plate between the locked position and the unlocked position.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A door lock for a door that separates an inside from an outside and that includes a privacy function, the door lock comprising:
 a latch assembly positioned at least partially within the door and movable between an engaged position in which the door is held in a closed position and a disengaged position in which the door is movable from the closed position to an open position; 
 an inside housing fixedly coupled to an inside surface of the door; 
 an outside housing fixedly coupled to an outside surface of the door; 
 an outside actuator rotatable about an axis to selectively move the latch assembly between the engaged position and the disengaged position; 
 an inside actuator rotatable about the axis to selectively move the latch assembly between the engaged position and the disengaged position; 
 a privacy selector extending from the inside housing and including a privacy lock actuator movable in a linear direction normal to the axis to vary the privacy selector between an open position and a privacy position; 
 a cam member coupled to the privacy selector such that the cam member rotates between an unlocked position and a locked position in response to axial movement of the privacy selector between the open position and the privacy position; and 
 a locking plate coupled to the cam and movable along the axis between a disengaged position and an engaged position in response to rotation of the cam between the unlocked position and the locked position, wherein the locking plate engages the outside housing when in the locked position, and wherein when the privacy selector is in the open position the privacy selector allows the outside actuator to actuate the latch assembly between the engaged position and the disengaged position and when in the privacy position the privacy selector inhibits the outside actuator from actuating the latch assembly towards the disengaged position with respect to the outside housing, and wherein rotation of the inside actuator moves the privacy selector from the privacy position to the open position and actuates the latch assembly toward the disengaged position. 
 
     
     
       2. The door lock of  claim 1 , further comprising a plunger bar that extends from the inside housing to the outside housing along the axis, and wherein rotation of the plunger bar about the axis from a first position to a second position inhibits movement of the outside actuator. 
     
     
       3. The door lock of  claim 2 , wherein the privacy selector further includes a linkage interconnecting the privacy lock actuator and the plunger bar. 
     
     
       4. The door lock of  claim 3 , wherein the linkage is arranged to convert linear motion of the privacy lock actuator into rotary motion of the plunger bar. 
     
     
       5. The door lock of  claim 3 , wherein the linkage includes a locking link rotatably coupled to the plunger bar, a rocker link connected to the privacy lock actuator, and a connecting link coupled to the rocker link and the locking link. 
     
     
       6. The door lock of  claim 5 , wherein the rocker link includes a first end pivotally connected to the inside housing and a second end connected to the connecting link, wherein the rocker link is pivotable about a pivot axis that is substantially parallel to the axis. 
     
     
       7. The door lock of  claim 6 , further comprising a biasing member coupled to the inside housing and the rocker link to bias the rocker link toward the open position. 
     
     
       8. The door lock of  claim 3 , wherein the linkage includes a locking link rotatably coupled to the plunger bar and a first sector gear connected to the locking link and the privacy lock actuator. 
     
     
       9. The door lock of  claim 8 , wherein the locking link includes a second sector gear in a meshed relationship with the first sector gear. 
     
     
       10. The door lock of  claim 1 , further comprising an outside release mechanism coupled to the outside housing and movable in a direction substantially normal to the axis to move the privacy selector from the privacy position to the open position from outside of the door. 
     
     
       11. A door lock for a door that separates an inside from an outside and that includes a privacy function, the door lock comprising:
 a latch assembly positioned at least partially within the door and movable between an engaged position in which the door is held in a closed position and a disengaged position in which the door is movable from a closed position to an open position; 
 an outside spindle rotatable about an axis; 
 an inside spindle rotatable about the axis to move the latch assembly between the engaged position and the disengaged position; 
 a locking plate movable along the axis between a locked position in which the outside spindle is fixed with respect to the axis and an unlocked position in which the outside spindle and the inside spindle are each rotatable about the axis to move the latch assembly; 
 a cam member rotatable between an unlocked position and a locked position to move the locking plate between the locking plate locked position and the locking plate unlocked position; and 
 a privacy lock actuator positioned on the inside of the door and movable in a linear direction substantially normal to the axis to rotate the cam member and thereby move the locking plate between the locked position in which the privacy lock actuator inhibits the outside spindle from moving the latch assembly to the disengaged position and the unlocked position in which the privacy lock actuator allows the outside spindle to move the latch assembly between the engaged position and the disengaged position, and wherein rotation of the inside actuator moves the locking plate from the locked position to the disengaged position and moves the latch assembly toward the disengaged position. 
 
     
     
       12. The door lock of  claim 11 , further comprising a plunger bar that extends from the inside housing to the outside housing along the axis, and wherein rotation of the plunger bar about the axis moves the locking plate from the unlocked position to the locked position. 
     
     
       13. The door lock of  claim 12 , further comprising a linkage interconnecting the privacy lock actuator and the plunger bar, wherein the linkage is arranged to convert linear motion of the privacy lock actuator into rotary motion of the plunger bar. 
     
     
       14. The door lock of  claim 13 , wherein the linkage includes a locking link rotatably coupled to the plunger bar, a rocker link connected to the privacy lock actuator, and a connecting link coupled to the rocker link and the locking link. 
     
     
       15. The door lock of  claim 14 , wherein the rocker link includes a first end connected to the inside housing and a second end connected to the connecting link, wherein the rocker link is pivotable about a pivot axis that is substantially parallel to the axis. 
     
     
       16. The door lock of  claim 15 , further comprising a biasing member coupled to the inside housing and the rocker link to bias the rocker link toward the open position. 
     
     
       17. The door lock of  claim 13 , wherein the linkage includes a locking link rotatably coupled to the plunger bar and a first sector gear connected to the locking link and the privacy lock actuator. 
     
     
       18. The door lock of  claim 17 , wherein the locking link includes a second sector gear in a meshed relationship with the first sector gear. 
     
     
       19. The door lock of  claim 11 , further comprising an outside release mechanism coupled to the outside housing and movable in a direction substantially normal to the axis to move a privacy selector from a privacy position to the open position from outside of the door. 
     
     
       20. A door lock for a door that separates an inside from an outside and that includes a privacy function, the door lock comprising:
 a latch assembly positioned at least partially within the door and movable between an engaged position in which the door is held in a closed position and a disengaged position in which the door is movable from a closed position to an open position; 
 an inside housing fixedly coupled to an inside surface of the door; 
 an outside housing fixedly coupled to an outside surface of the door; 
 a privacy locking mechanism disposed substantially within the outside housing such that a substantial portion of the privacy locking mechanism is disposed nearer to the outside surface of the door than to the inside surface of the door, the privacy locking mechanism operable in an open position in which the privacy locking mechanism allows operation of the latch assembly from inside and outside of the door to move the latch assembly between the engaged position and the disengaged position and a privacy position in which the privacy locking mechanism inhibits operation of the latch assembly towards the disengaged position from outside of the door; and 
 a privacy selector extending from the inside housing and movable in a linear direction substantially parallel to the inside surface of the door to move the privacy locking mechanism between the open position and the privacy position, wherein movement of the latch assembly from inside of the door toward the disengaged position moves the privacy locking mechanism from the privacy position toward the open position, and wherein the privacy locking mechanism includes a cam member that rotates in response to movement of the privacy selector, and a locking plate that moves along an axis that is normal to the direction of movement of the privacy selector, the locking plate engaging the outside housing when privacy locking mechanism is in the privacy position. 
 
     
     
       21. A method of converting a privacy lock for a door to a passage lock, the method comprising:
 connecting a lock housing to the door; 
 providing a latch assembly positioned at least partially within the door and movable between an engaged position in which the door is held in a closed position and a disengaged position in which the door is movable from a closed position to an open position; 
 positioning a privacy locking mechanism substantially within the lock housing, the privacy locking mechanism operable in an open position to allow operation of the latch assembly from inside and outside of the door and a privacy position in which operation of the latch assembly from outside of the door is inhibited; 
 connecting a privacy selector to the privacy locking mechanism, the privacy selector including a selector interface disposed substantially outside of the lock housing and movable to move the privacy locking mechanism to one of the privacy position and the open position; and 
 removing the selector interface from the privacy selector to prevent a user from moving the privacy locking mechanism from the open position to the privacy position. 
 
     
     
       22. The door lock of  claim 1 , wherein the inside actuator is rotatable about the axis when the privacy selector is in the open position and when the privacy selector is in the privacy position.